Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Genuinely Cool Software Department (cont.)

Check this out! I can search Google by speaking into my cell phone! I actually don't mind typing on the iPhone virtual keyboard but this seems to work just as well. It will be interesting to see whether I end up using this in practice over the long term. I'm thinking of the following scenario: Suppose I'm reading a dead tree version of a book and I run across a word I don't know. Since I'm not reading my beloved Kindle, I'll pull my cell phone from my pocket, raise it to my ear, and say the words "define ichthyology" and lower it from my ear so I can read the result. Okay, okay, so realistically I'll actually be saying "define neocon bastard" but you get the idea.

It's not terribly accurate yet but I suspect I'll get the hang of speaking clearly and surely the software will improve. I saw another article in which the author says, essentially, just wait to see how capable the software is in six months! Methinks I'll be as accurate in speaking the word now as I currently am typing on the tiny virtual keyboard with my big mitts. We shall see.